Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala electricity minister K Krishnankutty on Thursday acknowledged that the state is reeling under a severe power crisis.
He said insufficient rainfall and rising power consumption have pushed the state into its current situation.
The minister said the government will have to impose usage restrictions, including load shedding (managed power outage) and a hike in power tariff, to bring the situation under control.
"Decisions regarding restrictive measures, including load shedding, will be taken at a high-level meeting on August 21," he said.
At present, the state produces only 30 per cent of the required electricity; the remaining power comes from the central grid and other states using long-term purchase power agreements (PPAs) or cross-border power purchase deals.
The government had cancelled certain contracts signed during the UDF's tenure after irregularities in the purchase of electricity came to its notice. As a result, experts said, the state currently faces a shortage of 460 MW of electricity.
"Deficient monsoon has resulted in the depletion of water levels in our reservoirs. We did not expect this. As of now, we have to buy power at higher rates," said the minister. "But the Electricity Regulatory Authority has to take a call on tariff hike," he added.
Due to scanty rainfall, the average cost of electricity in power exchange is Rs 7 per unit. In the evenings, the rate goes up to Rs 10 per unit. With the additional cost of purchasing electricity going up from Rs 10 crore to Rs 15 crore per day, the KSEB has increased the production of electricity from its hydel power stations.
The increase in production is based on the rain forecast for September. In Idukki, production has increased from 25 lakh units to 60 lakh units per day. But the crisis will worsen if the rain stays away, point out experts.
